Torrance Memorial Hospital receives $34 million donation from Hunt family

Torrance Memorial Medical Center has broken ground on a 37,000-square-foot cancer center that will cost $36 million to build and be triple the size of the current facility when it opens next year.

The Hunt Cancer Center will be named after Manhattan Beach resident Priscilla Hunt and her late husband, Donald Hunt, who have donated about $34 million to the Lomita Boulevard hospital over the years.

When complete, it will consolidate many of the hospital’s treatment programs for the disease under one roof.

The hospital, which earlier this year became an affiliate of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, will offer an expanded number of clinical trials at the facility and a 32-station infusion center where patients receive chemotherapy and other medications. Each station will have access to a multimedia entertainment system and room for a supportive guest during treatment.

“My staff and I become emotional when we think about what this means to our patients and our community,” said Dr. Hugo Hool, director of the cancer institute. “We will have the most advanced infusion capabilities and expand our complementary medicine repertoire.”

The center will become the new home of the 50-year-old Torrance Memorial Physician Network – Cancer Care.

Designed by c|a Architects of Long Beach, the interior of the center will integrate natural light with hues of blue and green intended to produce a “hopeful” environment, hospital officials said.

There will also be a private underground parking garage for patients to provide additional patient privacy during visits.

“We put a great deal of thought into the design of this new building,” said hospital CEO Craig Leach. “Unlike other hospitals where oncology patients have to travel through the hospital’s main lobby, we wanted to create a more private and customized arrival experience.”

The hospital provides specialists to treat more than 60 types of cancer.

The Hunt family previously gave $22 million late last year to help the hospital renovate its five-story former North Patient Tower, which will be renamed the Donald and Priscilla Hunt Tower when work wraps up this summer.

The Hunt family’s real estate portfolio includes more than 4,000 residential units, industrial buildings and shopping centers.

“Health is wealth,” said Priscilla Hunt, quoting the well-known saying. “Thanks to care received at Torrance Memorial, our longtime receptionist at Hunt Enterprises, Angela, survived stage-four cancer and is back at work today. My sister’s life was extended long enough to see her first grandchild born. Because I have the means to give, I am doing so to help others have more time with the people they care about and to receive the best care available without having to travel long distances.”